prominent

If you're looking for an adjective that means "sticking out above the rest; famous," consider prominent. A prominent person might be the big cheese, the head honcho, the top dog — not just any Joe Schmo.

A prominence is anything that juts out, like a bone or a mountain ridge. Prominent, then, means "sticking out" either in a literal sense ("a prominent nose") or a figurative one ("a prominent figure in the industry"). The metaphorical sense of "famous" is the most common one today, though references to the "prominent posterior" of Jennifer Lopez might fit both definitions.